A 29-year-old man is curious about whether he made a mistake by refusing to give up his seat on an aircraft so a small child could sit next to his father.
In a Reddit post, the anonymous man describes his experience on a short, 70-minute trip with a two-by-two seating configuration. He sat in the window seat, and next to him was a roughly 7-year-old youngster sitting alone.
At one point, he adds, the boy’s father “asked me if I would mind swapping so they could sit together,” to which he replied that he would only exchange if the guy was in the window seat. According to the ad, the father explained that his seat was not a window seat and said, “So, do you want to sit next to my son?”
The poster said, “I don’t care, I just want the window seat,” and the man informed him he was “not a very nice person.” The sign then instructed the man to be “polite” and “behave yourself.”
Someone in another row eventually volunteered to exchange seats so the dad could sit next to his son, but the poster remained irritated.
“If they care that much, they can book their seats in advance like everyone else,” according to him. “I don’t have a compelling reason for requiring a window seat, other than my preference for it over an aisle seat.”
Other Reddit users shared their thoughts in the comments, with one saying, “If you’ve paid for your seat selection, you should rightfully protest any reallocation at the last minute and demand a refund.”
Some speculated that the father might not have been able to reserve seats together and hoped that a nice stranger could help him out.
“While OP has no obligation to give up a seat, I’m sick of people claiming parents can just book seats together!” according to a Reddit member. “Do you believe they would have scheduled a youngster to sit alone if they had alternative options? It’s not like they were saving money in the hopes of getting a first-class ticket for economy or more legroom for a child.